REGULATION: regime will hand the governing body jurisdiction over lawyers for the first time


Solicitors advising on football transfers in England could be forced to register with the Football Association (FA) under regulations set to come into force in September.



The Law Society and the FA have agreed a regulatory regime that will require solicitors who carry out agency activity in a practice that is not regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) to register with the sport's governing body. The move will hand the FA jurisdiction over lawyers for the first time.



Solicitors who work as part of an SRA-regulated practice will not be required to register - as has been the case since a 1996 agreement between world governing body FIFA and the Law Society - so long as they meet certain conditions.



These include: the solicitor agreeing certain key terms in writing with their client prior to acting; the client being solely responsible for remunerating and paying the solicitor; the solicitor not sharing their fees with anyone outside their practice; and the disclosure of certain information to the FA.



The FA will also set up a 'warned- off' list, preventing lawyers who breach these conditions of action from acting as agents. The governing body said it will require players and clubs to refrain from dealing with a solicitor placed on the list.



The rules are part of a wider package of measures governing football agents' activities.



The FA said the measures would increase transparency in how solicitors operate in this area. Jonathan Hall, its director of governance, said: 'We firmly believe [the regulations] are fair, proportionate and balanced.'



Law Society President Andrew Holroyd said it welcomed the FA's 'constructive' approach. Chancery Lane warned last year that it was prepared to go to court after the game's governing body said it would require all lawyers to be subject to the same rules and disciplinary procedures as agents (see [2006] Gazette, 9 November, 6).



Mr Holroyd said: 'The Society supports the approach adopted in the regulations as an effective and proportionate means of ensuring proper regulation of solicitors in connection with football transfers.'



Philip Hoult